Model airplane control line apparatus



E. G. WOOD MODEL AIRPLANE CONTROL LINE APPARATUS Aug. 9, 1949.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 11, 1948 il'l:

A v INVENTOR. 1. M58 6. W000,

BY %%%Wm;m

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 9, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MODEL AIRPLANE CONTROL LINE APPARATUS This invention relates to a Y-control line device for a toy airplane, with particular reference to a manual control for a captive plane flying in a circle.

The main object of my invention is to provide a special Y-control line device for manually controlling take-ofl and landing of a captive toy airplane to simulate the flight of a fiull-fledged airplane.

Another object is to have a control device of the indicated character by which a. captive airplane may be caused to climb or descend at will.

A further object is to have such a control device wherein the flight of a toy airplane is controlled from a fixed center post by operating control mechanism thereon through a single line which in turn is operated by a manual lever disposed at a distance from the center post.

It is also an object to have a rotating anchorage for the lines extending to the toy airplane resiliently supported on the center post with means for taking up or partly slacking one of the lines to cause climbing or descent of the airplane.

A very desirable and practical object is to have an automatic slack control arm serving to slacken both control or guide lines of a powered toy airplane when the plane is forced toward the center post by the wind in order to prevent crashing of the plane and instead maintain constant control of the latter at all times.

An object included in connection with this invention is to have a protecting ground bridge plate for communicating the control movements of the control line from a manual control lever to the center post without danger of fouling the line by the airplane when taking off or landing.

It is likewise an object of the invention to provide such readily operated control means for use with a captive toy airplane that great and prolonged interest in playing with and noting the flight of the latter will be aroused for educational purposes.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in further detail as the specification proceeds.

In order to facilitate ready comprehension of the salient features of this invention, the latter is illustrated on the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a general side elevation of a Y- control line device made according to the invention and embodying the same in a practical form, showing a toy airplane connected thereto and controlled thereby, with a portion of the view in partial section to disclose constructional detail;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a ground bridge plate of Figure l for protecting the control line running from the control lever to the center post about which the airplane flies;

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical section of the center post about which the toy airplane circulates, portions of the lines running to and from the post and the devices mounted thereon being cut off to reduce the view;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the center post of Figure 3.

In the four views, the same reference numerals indicate the same or like parts.

When students and youths fly toy airplanes, it is always desirable to be in a position to control the flight of such toys, both from an educational standpoint, as well as from an amusement standpoint, so that certain principles connected with the art of flying will be readily learned by observing the toys. Captive airplanes of this type which are connected by a Y-line or by various connecting means to a center post are, of course, known, and it is one object of this invention to introduce improved means for controlling the flight of a toy captive airplane adapted to fly around a center post in this manner, as will now be disclosed in detail.

Hence, in the practice of my invention, and referring again to the drawings, a Y-control line device, generally indicated at 1, primarily includes a stationary post 8 screwed or otherwise fixed into a base member 9 having a flange l0 secured to the floor or the ground by means of screws or spikes II, II occupying holes l2, [2 to fix the post in rigid position. This post may be made in two sections so that the lower portion 8 is joined to an upper portion I3 by means of a union I4 from which it may be detached in order to take the device apart and store it away after use. Upon an intermediate portion of the upper post section l3 are fixed a pair of flanges l5, l6 between which is located a disc l'l provided with radially-projecting eyes or hooks l8, l8, etc., to which guy lines I9, I 9 are secured which are anchored at 20, for example, to the ground for the purpose of fixing the post in rigid position. In similar fashion, the upper end of the post section I 3 has a second pair of flanges 2|, 22 fixed thereon, the latter being preferably a nut screwed on the thread 23, and between members 2| and 22 is a rotatably mounted Y-line plate 24 to one end of which is pivotally connected a guide bar 25 by means of a pin 26. A short distance from the Y-line plate 24 is pivoted a cross-bar 2'! by means of a bolt 28 upon the guide bar 25 provided on the remote side from the post with a pair of eyes 29, 39 to which the control lines 3|, 32 are connected which run to the toy airplane indicated at 33. At the end of guide member 25 is a further cross-piece 34 secured thereto by means of screws or the like 35, and. terminating at both ends in eyes 36, 3'! through which the lines 3! and 32 pass and are held a uniform distance apart.

Upon the post section 3 below flange is mounted an upwardly-projecting yoke 38 hav-- ing an enlarged intermediate bottom portion 39 slidably mounted upon the post, while the two limbs 4e, 4! project upwardly in parallel relation to the post through a pair of guide holes 62, 13 in stationary disc IT mounted between the flanges l5 and It, as already intimated. Mounted upon the two upwardly-projecting limb it and Q! of yoke 38 are a pair of compression springs s4, 45 resting on disc I7 and bearing upwardly against a further disc 46 in which the upper ends of limbs 46 and 4! are screwed or otherwise fastened. Thus, the yoke 38 and disc 46 form a frame which is resiliently supported on disc H, while the lower portion 39 of the yoke is s'lidable upon the post while disc 46 also surrounds the same post above the flanges i5 and f6,

However, upon disc 36 is a rotatably mounted additional disc ll having a rotatable sleeve 33 screwed up into the central portion thereof, this sleeve projecting upwardly through a clearance hole 49 in dis-c 6 and terminating below the latter in a flange 5D, with the result that disc ll is capable of rotating upon disc 46, but will be maintained in contact with the latter disc during rotation by flange 59, so that despite rotation of said disc 4'5, it will follow the vertical movements upon post E3 of disc 46. Rising vertically upward from the upper disc il are a pair of guide rods 5!, 52 projecting slidably through a pair of clearance holes 53 and 54 in Y-line plate 24, in order to communicate rotation of this plate 2 3 about post !3 to the disc 4'! spaced below it.

Upon one side of disc 3'! is secured a connecting line 55 by means of a screw '56 and extending upwardly over a pulley 5T rotatably mounted upon a pivot pin 58 on a bracket 59 fixed to the Y-line plate 24 beside the pivotal mounting of guide bar '25 by means of screws or the like, or in any manner which suggests itself to a workman skilled in the art. Beyond the pulley 51 the line extends to an anchoring eye .Bil upon the other side of the end of crossbar 2! which carries the eye 29 to which Y-line 3| is secured, the line 55 being attached to this eye 63. At the opposite end of the cross-bar 211s a further eye or attachment hook 6! to which a tension spring 62 is connected, the other end of the spring being attached to an eye 63 fixed to the end of Y-line plate 24 upon the other side of the pivotal mounting of guide'member 25.

The arrangement is such that if springs M and 4-5 are freely allowed to raise disc 46, naturally the disc 6'! will'be raised thereby to slack connecting line 55, and this will allow the spring 62 to pull cross-bar 2"! counter-clockwise and pull on line-32 and slack line 3!, but if the yoke 38 is drawn downwardly to-compress springs 54 and d5, disc 46 will draw flange 50 of sleeve 48 downwardly with it and thereby draw disc 4! down simultaneously and thereby pull upon connecting line 55 andpull cross-bar Z1 clockwise while stretching spring 62 and thereby draw upon line 3! while slacking line 32 running to the toy airplane 33, as will presently be set forth in further detail.

In order to effect the mentioned movements of the yoke and thereby the clockwise or counterclockwise partial rotation of cross-bar 2! in order to release or pull upon guide lines 3! and 32, the lower portion 39 of the yoke is provided with an attachment eye 64 to which a control line 65 is secured which runs down over a pulley 66 rotatably mounted at B! to the lower post section 8, whence the line runs horizontally over the ground to the upwardly-projecting arm 68 of a slidable link 69 to which it is secured, the other end of this link having a second upwardly directed arm 70 to which a further section of control line H is attached. The other end of the latter line 1! is attached to the lower end 12 of a manually-operated control lever 13 pivotally mounted at M upon the upwardly-projecting stand plate it having a supporting flange '16 forming a base therefor and fastened to the floor or to the ground by means of spikes '51, ll. Upon the upwardly-projecting stand plate 15 is an arcuate row of teeth 78 forming a rack, as it were, which will tend to retain the lower portion of lever '53 in any position in which it is shifted. However, at one side of stand plate is pivoted stop 19 upon a pin or bolt 88 in such position that the end thereof may engage 'frictionally against the lower end 72 of lever 13 when it is forcibly pushed against the same to retain it in position as a normal condition for the lines 65 and 1! and ultimately of the guide lines '3! and 32 which are attached to the front and the rear, respectively, of airplane 33.

Referring again to the flat link 69, this is formed of a strip of metal s'lidably supported upon a plate 8! attached at the ends thereof to the ground or the floor by means of a group of spikes or the like 82, 82. Upon plate ill is fixed an intermediately-raised plate 83 forming a bridge or cover over having a pair of flanges 84, 84 secured to plate 8! by'soldering, brazing or riveting, etc., the purpose being to avoid the plane 33 fouling line 65 or line H when it descends for landing, as indicated at 85 in broken lines in Figure 1. The mentioned plate and bridge link construction just described also serves well when the plane is about to take 01f, the Whole structure being located at substantially the same distance from pivot mounting 26 of guide 'bar 25 as the plane is located and spaced therefrom when raised 'in flight.

Assuming that the plane as shown in Figure 1 faces the observer and all the control parts occupy the positions "depicted in said figure, the plane may be started'flying by manually rotating the Y-line plate 24 and perhaps assisting the plane by giving it a'toss, so that it will rotatein flight in clockwise direction about post !3. Assuming that the plane is in flight on'substa'ntiallyan even keel and occasionally giving the plate '24 an 'additio'naltwirl to keep the plane on motion, it is evident that disc 4'! and Y-line plate 24 with guide rods 5!, 5'2 projecting rigidly upwardly through plate 24 form a rotating system which'revolves'uponthe stationary plate or disc 46. If then the lever '13 is pulled in the-direction of 'the arrow 86, it is evident that stop bar 19 will "drop bygravity to flange 16 and be out of the way for further movements of lever 1-3,thisrightward or clockwise swing of lever 13 slacking line H=and-therebyline-65 and allowingsp'rings 44 and-45 resting on disc I! to raise disc 46 and thereby slack line 55, allowing spring 62 to pull cross-bar 21 counter-clockwise and exert a pull upon Y-line 32 while correspondingly slacking Y-line 3i and causing the plane to descend to a limited degree with guide bar lowering into the position generally indicated in broken lines in Figure 3 at 81. On the other hand, if lever 13 is pushed in the direction of arrow 88, control line H, link 69 and line 65 will be pulled to depress yoke 38 and compress springs 44 and 45 while drawing disc 46 downwardly and with it disc 41, which, of course, exerts a pull on line 55 and thereby turning cross-bar 21 clockwise about pivot mounting 28 and stretching spring 62 and thus pulling upon Y-line 3| and slacking Y-line 32 and thereby causing the plane to rise so that the Y-lines and guide bar 25 will rise into a position indicated in broken lines at 89 in Figure 3, the plane being brought to a level circle of flight by restoring the lever 3 to its upright intermediate position, as shown in full lines in Figure 1, when the stop bar l9 may be manually raised to abut the side of the lower end E2 of the lever to hold it in fixed position.

From the foregoing, it is evident that a toy airplane may be controlled by merely operating the control lever 13 to cause the plane to fly on an even keel or to rise or descend at will, whether or not it has an engine-operated propeller.

Manifestly, variations may be resorted to and parts and features may be modified or used without others within the scope of the appended claims.

Having now fully described my invention, I claim:

1. In a Y-control device for a toy airplane, comprising a center post and guide-line means mounted on the post and connected to the airplane limiting the latter to flight in a circle about the post, the features which include having the guide-line means consisting of two guide lines connected to the forward and rear portions, respectively, of said airplane, and include stationary guide means on the post, movable guide means slidably mounted on the latter and guided in vertical movement by said stationary guide means, resilient means tending to raise said movable guide means, rotatable means mounted on said post positively moving with the movable guide means and carrying at least one guide member thereon, a rotatable member also mounted on said post in spaced relation to the rotatable means and being in constant contact with the guide member and caused thereby to rotate positively with said rotatable means, limiting means on said post for retaining the rotatable member at a predetermined level upon the latter at all times, a swingable guide member pivoted upon a horizontal axis to said rotatable member, a shiftable control member movably mounted on the swingable guide member having said guide lines connected at the ends thereto, a resilient connection between one portion of said shiftable control member and the rotatable member, a pulley mounted on the latter, a cable extending over said pulley connected at one end to another portion of said shiftable control member and at the other end to said rotatable means, an operating control cable connected at one end thereof to said movable guide means, a pulley mounted on said post, a stationary support spaced a distance from the latter, and a manually-operated control lever pivotally mounted on said stationary sup- 6 portand connected to the other end of said operating control cable, the latter extending from said movable guide means to the last-mentioned pulley and over the latter to said manually operated control lever.

2. In a Y-control device for a toy airplane, comprising a center post and guide line means mounted on the post and connected to the airplane limiting the latter to flight in a circle about the post, the features which include having the guide line means consisting of two guide lines connected at one end of each to the forward and rear portions, respectively, of said airplane and include a stationary support spaced a distance from the post beyond the circle of flight of said airplane, a manually-operated control lever pivoted on said stationary support, an operating control cable connected at one end to said manually-operated control lever, a vertically-movable member slidably mounted on said post, an operating control cable connected at one end to the vertically-movable member, and at the other end to said manually-operated control lever, rotatable means mounted on said post, shiftable means mounted on the rotatable means and having the,

other end of each of the two guide lines connected thereto, a spring urging said shiftable means to move in one direction to exert a pull on one of said two guide lines, and connections betweensaid shiftable means and said operating control cable and through said vertically-movable member and rotatable means for shifting said shiftable means in another direction in order to exert a pull on the other of said two guide lines.

3. In a Y-control device for a toy airplane, comprising a center post and guide-line means mounted on the post and connected to the airplane limiting the latter to flight in a circle about the post, the features which include having the guide-line means consisting of two guide lines connected at one end of each to the forward and rear portions, respectively, of said airplane, and include a stationary support spaced 2. distance from the post beyond the circle of flight of said airplane, a manually-operated control lever pivotally mounted on said stationary support, and operating control cable connected at one end to said manually-operated control lever, a vertically-movable member slidably operating control cable connected at one end to the vertically-movable member, a slidably elongated member connected to the other end of the operating control cable, a connecting cable interconnecting the slidably elongated member and said manually-operated control lever, a supporting plate for said slidably-elongated member located below the path of travel of said airplane, a sheath-forming ground bridge member upon said supporting plate protecting said slidably elongated member to prevent fouling the operating control cable by said airplane in flight and when taking off and alighting, rotatable means mounted on said post, shiftable means mounted on the rotatable means and having the other end of each of the two guide lines connected thereto, a spring urging said shiftable means to move in one direction to exert a pull on one of said two guide lines, and connections between said shiftable means and said operating control cable and through said vertically-movable member and rotatable means for shifting said shiftable means in another direction in order to exert a pull on the other of said two guide lines.

4. In a Y-control device for a toy airplane, comprising a center post and. guide-line means moun-.

mounted on said post, an.

ted on the post and connected to the airplane limiting the latter to flight in a circle about the post, the features which include having the guideline means consisting of two guide lines connected at one end of each to the forward and rear portions, respectively, of said airplane, and include a stationary support spaced a distance from the post beyond the circle of flight of said airplane, a manually-operated control lever pivotally mounted on said stationary support, an arcuate row of teeth disposed upon the latter tending to retain the manually-operated control lever in any attained position, a swingable stop bar pivotally mounted on said stationary support for abutting the side of one end of said manually-operated lever to determine the neutral intermediate position thereof, an operating control cable connected at one end to said manually-operated control lever, a vertically-movable member slidably mounted on said post, an operating control cable connected at one end to the vertically-movable member and at the other end to said manuallyoperated control lever, rotatable means mounted on said post, shiftable means mounted on the rotatable means and having the other end of each of the guide lines connected thereto, a spring urging said shiftable means to move in one direction to exert a pull on one of said two guide lines, and connections between said shiftable means and said operating control cable and through said vertically-movable member and rotatable means for shifting said shiftable means in another direction in order to exert a pull on the other of said two guide lines.

5. In a Y-control device for a toy airplane, comprising a center post and guide line means mounted on the post and connected to the airplane limiting the latter to flight in a circle about the post, the features which include having the guideline means consisting of two guide lines connected at one end of each to the forward and rear portions, respectively, of said airplane, and include a stationary plate mounted upon and surrounding said center post, fixed means on the latter loeating the stationary plate in predetermined position thereon, a U-shaped member having the intermediate yoke portion thereof slidably mounted upon said post below said stationary plate and the limbs thereof projecting slidably upward 8 through guiding apertures in the same stationary plate, an upper movable member connected to the upper ends of the limbs of said Ushaped member, compression springs mounted on said limbs between the stationary plate and upper movable member tending to raise the latter above said stationary plate, a rotatable disc located upon said upper movable member and having a sleeve rigid therewith rotatably mounted on said post and projecting down through a clearance aperture in said upper movable member, a flange upon the lower end of said sleeve below the latter member, an anchoring plate rotatably mounted on said post in spaced relation to the rotatable disc, a pair of guide rods projecting rigidly upward from said rotable disc slidably through apertures in said rotatable anchoring plate to rotate the disc positively with the latter, a pair of limiting means fixed on said post for locating the rotatable anchoring plate at a predetermined level thereon, a pulley mounted on one side of said anchoring plate, a tension spring connected at one end to the other side thereof, an elongated guide bar pivotally connected at the inner end thereof to said anchoring plate intermediate the pulley and the spring, a swiveling cross-bar pivotally mounted on the guide bar to swing on a vertical axis, one end of the cross-bar being connected to the other end of said tension spring, a flexible connecting member connected at one end thereof to the other end of said cross-bar and passing over said pulley extending down to and connecting with said rotatable disc, the two ends of said cross-bar also being connected respectively to one end of each of the two guide lines, two guiding eyes spaced apart on the outer end of the elongated guide bar for spacing apart and guiding said guide lines, a pulley mounted on the lower portion of said center post, a stationary support fixed a predetermined distance from the latter, a manually-operated control lever pivotally mounted on said stationary support, and means connecting the yoke portion of said U-shaped member over and past said last-mentioned pulley with said manually-operated control lever.

ELMER G. WOOD.

No references cited. 

